China invested $3.7 billion in shale gas

The reasons for the lack of enthusiasm in China for joint gas projects with Russia (“Power of Siberia”, “Altai”) are getting clear.

They come from a joint report published by the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources of China, and China’s State Geological Service.

According to the published official document, for the period from 2009 to 2014 the People’s Republic of China invested 23 billion yuan in exploration and development of its own shale gas. At the current exchange rate it is 3.7 billion dollars.

Exploration and development was a success. According to the same official report, by the end of 2014, 500 billion cubic metres of proven reserves of shale gas were discovered, including 106 billion located in the fields owned by Chinese petroleum company Sinopec. Gas-bearing strata in China is located in an area of ​​170 thousand square kilometers in 54 major fields. The report says that 780 shale gas wells have been drilled by the end of 2014, and they can be commercially exploited.

And the commercial use has successfully began: by the end of 2014 the industry reached the level of annual production of 1.5 billion cubic meters. Investing in shale gas continues: in 2015 is was planned to invest another 680 million yuan (109 million dollars) in shale gas production, and reach the production level of 6.5 billion cubic metres. By 2020 Chinese gas companies expect to reach a production level of 30 billion cubic meters of shale gas annually.